Democratic Erosion University Course Student Blog

Students enrolled in our course are encouraged to write for the course blog, and to read and comment on posts from students at other participating universities. The blog offers students the opportunity to analyze current events through the lens of the theory and case studies they engage with through the course.

These blogs reflect the views of the student authors, and not those of the Democratic Erosion Consortium.

Thailand’s Hybrid Regime: Democracy Shaped by Military and Monarchy by Ashleigh Sodee

Thailand operates as a hybrid regime where democratic institutions like elections coexist with significant control by the military and monarchy, limiting political freedoms and preventing full democratic governance.

Turkey Still Holds Elections, So How Does Erdoğan Make Use of Religiously Entangled State Power to Erode Democracy?

This blog talks about how the current regime of Turkey, and its’ president Erdoğan is legitimizing their asserted power through subtle and sub-constitutional control using democratic frameworks to not lose the global recognition but also be part of the accepted community in the world.

The Quiet Erosion of Democracy : Why Israel’s Political Crisis Should Worry Us All

This blog post explores how conflict, polarization, and religion may be contributing to democratic erosion in Israel.

Democracy Under Elites: The Political Influence of Monarchy in Thailand

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University

Although monarchies were once among the most dominant and widely accepted political systems in history, they are now less common yet often remain powerful and untouchable...

Why Democracy Declined in Turkey: The Role of Polarization

Apr 20, 2026 | George Mason University

Hook In the early 2000s, Turkey looked like a promising case of democracy. Many people believed it could become a stable liberal democracy, even in a Muslim-majority...

Birds of an Anti-Democratic Feather: What Trump’s Recent Shift in Alliances Reveals About the Frightening Future of Democracy

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

How fast can a democratic empire fall? If you ask Donald Trump, he will likely tell you that any answer is not fast enough. While the hallmarks of American democracy have been suffering greatly...

Elections Without Democracy: The Case of Thailand

Apr 19, 2026 | George Mason University

Elections Without Democracy: The Case of Thailand In 2023, the people of Thailand chose change. The Move Forward Party, which carried a progressive platform, won the election by a landslide. But...

Silencing the Bench: How Poland’s “Muzzle Law” Accelerates Democratic Erosion

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

Democracy depends on more than just elections: it requires strong independent institutions, specifically courts, that can check and balance political power. In Poland, a nation once praised for its...

What Does the United States Democracy Have in Store?

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

The United States has always had a fair democracy, but in a year our democracy has fallen. One President has made tremendous changes, but many of these changes haven’t been good for us as...

Turkey’s Attempted 2016 Coup is a Symptom, Not a Cause of Democratic Erosion

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University, Uncategorized

On July 15, 2016, tanks and members of the Turkish military took to the streets of Istanbul in an unsuccessful attempt to overthrow the government. Soldiers invaded the headquarters of the ruling...

Democratic Erosion in Poland’s Judicial Reform

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

Poland is actively making corrupt efforts to silence those who muster the courage to speak out. In late 2019, the Polish Sejm approved a new law, the muzzle law, that is aimed towards taking...

Ignoring the Referee: Court Defiance and America’s Last Guardrail

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University, Universities

Democracies don’t usually die in a single dramatic moment. They erode quietly and gradually, through a thousand small surrenders. But occasionally, a government does something so blunt that it...

The Democratic Unraveling of Hungary

Apr 19, 2026 | Suffolk University

Economic development alone is insufficient to ensure democratic survival : Tunisia’s case (According to Lipset, Przeworski)

Apr 19, 2026 | George Mason University, Uncategorized

Tunisia shows that ‘economic development alone’ is insufficient to ensure democratic survival- as political institutions and leadership play a critical role. Tunisia was once considered a successful...